Brake for railway-cars



- (No Model.) J. E. ROBINSON.

BRAKE FOR RAILWAY CARS.

No. 393,587. Patented Nov. 27, 1888.

J e: 15: 1 1: e

N PETERS. Pmlu-Lnmgn hur. Washington, D. C.

NiED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN E. ROBINSON, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

BRAKE FOR RAILWAY-CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 393,587, dated November27, J 888.

(No model.)

.To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, Jenn E.RO13INSON, of Philadelphia, in the county ofPhiladelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Brakes for Railway and other Cars, of which thefollowing is a specification, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The object of my invention is to provide a brake that will require butlittle power to op erate it, and in which the frictional contact withthe wheel will be distributed over a large I amount of space, therebyred ucing the wear on both wheel and brake.

The invention consists in the several details of construction andarrangement hereinafter fully described.

In the drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of a car-truck with myimproved brake mechanism applied, and Fig. 2 is a plan.

Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts in each figure.

A A represent the wheels on one side of a truck, and B B arebrake-shoes.

C O are metal straps, preferably steel, the lower ends of which are on aline with the lower ends of the brake shoes, but on the opposite sidesof the wheels.

D D are links connecting the lower ends of the straps G O to thebrake-shoes B B. The links inelose the wheels, the latter revolvingwithin them. The straps extend about onehalf way around the peripheriesof the wheels, and are suspended in close proximity to their faces ortreads by means of the spring E, the link connections 6 between thespring and straps being adjustable, as shown.

F F are crank'shafts, which extend across the car-truck and are providedat their respect ive ends with crank-armsff, the arms being each rigidlyconnected at a point about midway of its length to one of the shafts.One end of the crank-arm f is pivotally connected to the brake-shoe Band the other end similarly connected to a link, G. This link in turn isadjustably connected to one end of a rod, G, the other end of which ispivotally connected to the upper end of the strap 0. One end of thecrank-arm f is pivotally connected to the brakeshoe B, the other endbeing similarly connected with one end of a rod, H, which passes throughthe link G and is connected at its other end to the upper extremity ofthe strap 0.

I I are levers rigidly connected attheir lower ends to the crank-shaftsF E" about midway of their length.

K is a chain, one end of which is attached to the upper end of the leverI. The chain K passes around a pulley, t, on the upper end of the leverI to a drum, J, on the brake-spindle J.

The levers I I are bent, as shown, in order to clear the cross-timber ofthe truck when the upper ends of the levers are drawn together.

I have described the brake mechanism on one side of the truck only; butit is to be understood that it is applied to the wheels on both sidesalike, the chain K, levers I I, and the crank-shafts F F being theoperating devices common to both sides. The brake-shoes, straps, andoperating-levers and crank-shafts are supported by the spring E aloneand entirely free from any connection with the truck, except through themedium of the spring E and chain K.

The operation is as follows: lVhen the brakes are off and the wheelsrevolving in the direction of the arrow, the brake mechanism will be inthe position shown in full lines in Fig. l, the straps and brake-shoesbeing clear of the periphery of the wheel. In order to apply the brakes,the chain K must be wound on the drum J, whereupon the lover I will bedrawn over toward the lever I, and thus turn the crank-armf out of astraight line with the link G and rod G, as shown in dotted lines,Fig. 1. This will cause friction to be applied to the upper part of thefront wheel by means of the strap 0 and to the lower part of the rearwheel by means of the brake shoe B, the crankarm f and the rod Hmaintaining a straight and rigid position. If the wheels were revolvingin the opposite direction, the crankarmf would be turned out of astraight line with the rod H, and friction would be applied to the lowerpart of wheel A by means of the brakeshoe B and to the upper part ofwheel A by means of the strap 0. If the wheels are revolving, the leverwhich operates the crankarm connecting the slack ends of the brakes willtravel over to the other lever when the chain K is wound on the drum,the latter lever remaining stationary. If, however, the chain is woundon the drum when the wheels are at rest, each lever will move toward theother an equal distance. i

If desired, the straps and brake shoes may be made to operate on the rimof the wheels instead of the tread, and so save wear on the latter.

NVhen the brakes are applied, as the wheels pull on each other equally,there will be no jar or vibration given to the car, as is the case whenthe brakes are attached to the truckframe. 7 V e The wear on the strapsand shoes can be taken up by the adjustable connection between the linkG and rod G and link H and rod H.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. The combination, with thefront and rear wheels of a truck, of the metal straps and brake-shoes,links connecting the lower ends of the brake-shoes and straps on eachwheel, crank-arms and links connecting the upper part of the brakeshoeon one wheel with the upper end of the strap on the other wheel, aspring attached to the truck and supporting the straps, and levers foroperating the crankarms, substantially as specified.

2. The combination. with the front and rear wheels of a truck, of themetal straps and brake shoes, links inclosing the wheels and con- 3. Thecombination, with the wheels of a truck, of metal straps and shoessuspended in close proximity to the peripheries of the wheels andconnected as specified, crank-shafts extending across the truck,crank-arms on the ends of said shafts, one end of said arms be ingattached to the upper end of a brake-shoe on one wheel and the other endto a suitable connection leading to the,,upper endeof the strap onanother wheel, levers rigidly attached to the crank-shafts, and meansfor operating said levers, substantially as described.

4. The combination with the front and rear wheels of a truck, of strapspartly encircling the said wheels, brakeshoes, links connecting thestraps and brake-shoes, means for supporting said straps in closeproximity to the wheels, and devices,substantially as described, forapplying the straps and brakeshoes to the wheels, for the purpose setforth. n

In testimony whereof Ihave hereunto set my hand and seal.

JOHN E. ROBINSON. [L. s]

Witnesses:

E. Cause, 0. B. THOMPSON.

